


Blood and Batman

by AuroraNova



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s01e11 Bloodlines, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 14:51:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5669932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraNova/pseuds/AuroraNova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack tries to help Daniel deal with killing larval Goa'uld. "Bloodlines" coda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood and Batman

**Author's Note:**

> Standard disclaimer: I own nothing and make no money from this.

Jack was no good at talking about feelings. Just ask Sara.

Still, when Carter told him that Daniel killed a bunch of larval Goa’uld, Jack felt it was his responsibility as Daniel’s team leader (and maybe his friend) to check up on the guy. What he found wasn’t promising: Daniel sitting at his desk staring off into space frowning.

“Daniel?”

“Oh, hi Jack.”

“You busy?”

“Reworking my conception of myself to include child murderer.”

Crap. Jack had been afraid of this. “Don’t you think maybe you saved a bunch of people from…” he was about to say ‘from a fate worse than death’ when he realized that fate had befallen Daniel’s wife, so he switched to “being hosts?”

“Don’t get me wrong, the Goa’uld are pure evil and I’m glad they’re dead. That’s actually the problem. Who gave me the right to play judge, jury, and executioner?”

Well, shit. This conversation had immediately veered into territory where Jack was useless. He sighed. “Did you read comic books as a kid?”

“I’m pondering fundamental questions of morality and you’re trying to change the subject to comic books?”

“I’m not changing the subject.”

Daniel looked skeptical but answered the question. “No, I didn’t.”

“I did. Read a lot of Batman. Now, his thing is that he never kills anyone, and when I was a kid I thought that made him the biggest hero. Then I got older and I started thinking: he fights the same villains over and over, puts them in jail, they break out, kill people, lather, rinse, repeat.”

“So?”

“So eventually I decided that if Batman were really a hero, he’d kill the Joker. He’d live with the burden of having killed a man because it saved innocent lives.”

Jack wouldn’t claim to be a hero, but this was the fundamental philosophy which allowed him to live with the inevitable fact that killing people was too frequently part of Special Ops.

“So now I’m Batman, except willing to kill?” asked Daniel.

He shrugged. “More or less.”

After a moment of consideration Daniel said, “There are worse comparisons.”

“Yeah. Go home, Daniel. Have a good meal, relax, go to bed. You can stay up all night and the only thing you’ll accomplish is wearing yourself out.” This Jack knew from personal experience.

“I’ll try.”

“You know how to reach me.”

“I do. Thanks, Jack.”

“Sure.”

The advice he gave Daniel was good, and Jack decided to follow it himself. Pleased that he’d managed to successfully communicate about feelings, he headed home.

He was not, however, under any illusions that this would be the last time he and Daniel spoke on the topic of killing.


End file.
